NEW YORK – So this is how Rutgers limps into the Big Ten: Fourth and goal from the 1-yard line, a chance to take the lead on a Notre Dame team universally hated in its new conference, and what does Kyle Flood do?

He chickened out.

This is how a lousy season in Piscataway ended, with a poor decision from a head coach who needed to throw caution to the Bronx wind to get something – anything – positive for his program.

Instead, he chose to kick the 18-yard field goal, and maybe, given the way his offense had performed on the previous three plays in the shadow of the goal line, it was the safe play. Maybe, with starting running back Paul James unavailable for that second-quarter series due to an injury, it was the smart play.

But it sure wasn’t the play that Rutgers needed against the Fighting Irish, and predictably, neither was the result. The Scarlet Knights fought hard in the finale, give them that, but they had a chance to make a statement in the Pinstripe Bowl that this program was not in the dire place that so many alumni and fans believe it is.

So what is that statement now after a 29-16 loss to Notre Dame, when a coach who had shown himself to be a gambler earlier this season went into full play-not-to-lose-big mode in the bowl game?

Rutgers football – hey, at least we beat the spread!

“I didn’t have confidence in that drive that we were going to be able to score,” Flood said of the key sequence in the second quarter, “and I thought the three points were more valuable.”

And, to emphasize that point to the national TV audience, he declined a Notre Dame offside penalty on the field goal that would have put the ball even closer to the end zone. Kicker Kyle Federico had tied the game, 13-13, but anyone who has followed Rutgers this season knows that field goals weren’t going to beat Notre Dame – or, for that matter, any team with a competent offense.

Rutgers was doubled up in nearly ever statistical category, from total yards (494-236) to first downs (31-16) to time of possession (38:16-21:44). The defense was better, forcing the Irish to kick five field goals and giving the offense a chance in the fourth quarter to steal this.

But with subpar quarterback play again – Chas Dodd was 10 of 28 with 156 yards and three interceptions – that was a hopeless endeavor. Rutgers needed seven points when it was inches away from the end zone, and in a nothing-to-lose game, Flood flubbed the call.

It may not have mattered. Still, with a 6-6 team looking for something to stem to the tide of negativity, why not take the gamble? Especially when Flood has shown that he isn’t afraid to take chances.

Think back to the season opener against Fresno State, when he sized up an overmatched defense went for the 2-point conversion in overtime. Or the trip to SEC country last season, when he stunned Arkansas with a fake punt in Rutgers territory that changed the complexion of the game.

One failed. One succeeded. But there was a feeling with each one that, unlike his predecessor Greg Schiano, Flood was going to set a much less conservative tone for Rutgers. Now?

Look: I still believe Flood deserved another year to build this program. But a win would have helped change the narrative around this program heading into what will be a pivotal offseason. A win would have forced the mob calling for his head to put down its torches, at least until signing day.

“I feel like the program is in a good place,” said receiver Brandon Coleman, who will try his luck in the NFL draft, “but this offseason is going to be big for them to jumpstart the move into the Big Ten.”

That starts with holding the rest of this recruiting class together in the coming weeks, and preventing defections on his current roster, too. That starts with finding a defensive coordinator who can re-establish this unit’s reputation for pressuring the quarterback and forcing mistakes.

And, once again, it starts with finding a capable quarterback. Dodd will graduate and the player he replaced, Gary Nova, has a large enough body of work to demonstrate that he is not the guy. Is it redshirt freshman is Chris Laviano? Is it 6-foot-6 junior college transfer Daniel Fitzwater, who is said to be close to making a move to Piscataway?

Flood has eight months to find that answer. He needs to evaluate himself, too, because when a head coach plays not to lose against a better opponent in college football, he almost always does.